Magazine unloading device for bolt action firearms



Get. 20, 1953 J. F. SALAS 2,655,753

' MAGAZINE UNLOADING DEVICE FOR BOLT ACTION FIREARMS Filed April 26, 1950 if away/5%,

49 (Itto e115 Patented Oct. 20, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT orrlcs MAGAZINE UNLOADING DEVICE FOR BOLT ACTION FIREARMS Joseph Frank Salas, Detroit, Mich.

Application April 26, 1950, Serial No. 158,295

Claims. 1 This invention relates to bolt action firearms, such as military rifles and many sporting rifles and, in particular, to magazine unloading devices for such firearms.

One object of this invention is to provide a quick-acting magazine unloading device for bolt action firearms which can be attached to many types of bolt action firearms without requiring permanent alterations in the firearm itself, other than the substitution of anew magazine floor plate and follow-up spring, or the altera tion of the existing floor plate.

Another object is to provide a quick-acting magazine unloading device for bolt action firearms which can be operated by the fingers, even when covered with gloves, without requiring the use of a cartridge or any other tool.

Another object is to provide a quick-acting magazine unloading device of the foregoing character which will completely unload the magazine without the need for operating the bolt, other than to remove any cartridge which may be already in the chamber of the barrel.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in central vertical section, of the breech and receiver por.- tion of a bolt action firearm equipped with a magazine unloading device according to one form of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary vertical section through the floor plate latching mechanism taken along the line 22 in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary vertical section through the floor plate and follow-up spring taken along the line 3-3 in Figure 1;

Figure l is a side elevation of the magazine fioor plate'follow-up spring and unloading device removed from the firearm shown in Figure 1:

Figure 5 is a horizontal section taken along the line 5- 5 in Figure 4; and i V Figure 6 is a fragmentary vertical section similar to the lower central portion of Figural, but

showing the magazine unloading device in operation with the-magazine floor plate and followup spring partially removed, from the firearm. H

Many States of the United States have laws requiring the removal of all cartridges from a firearm, such as a magazine or repeating rifle, before entering ana'utomobile. Hitherto with most bolt action firearms, it has been necessary to operate the bolt as many times as there are cartridges in the chamber' and magazine of the firearm in order to accomplish this, and such a procedure not only istedious but also is liable to damage the noses of the bullets while they are 2 being removed from the magazine or as they hit the ground, or even to accidently fire the cartridges. Certain bolt action rifles, such as military rifles of the Mauser, Springfield or Enneld types, are provided with removable magazine floor plates, but the removal of such floor plates requires the use of a special tool, or the removal of the bolt in order to use the firing pin as such a tool, or the use of a cartridge bullet for that purpose. When the user of the rifle is out in the open, such as hunting under winter conditions, it is difiicult to carry special tools or to remove the bolt for that purpose. Furthermore, although certain military cartridges have pointed nose bullets of cupro-nickel alloy or other fairly hard metaL'sporting cartridges often have soft-nosed or blunt-nosed bullets which either cannot be used to operate the floor plate latching mecha-v nism or will be mutilated thereby if so used. Moreover, the use of the bolt to remove the cartridges from the magazine in the ordinary manner results in the mutilation of the bullets as they strike the chamber entrance or particularly with soft nose hunting cartridges. Finally, the magazine floor plates of conventional rifles are snugly fitted to exclude foreign matter and have no handles on them, as they are intended to be removed only at infrequent intervals in order to clean the rifle. Such floor plates stick and hence are not easily removable in the field.

The magazine unloading device of the present invention provides a latch-operating mechanism and also a handle for the magazine floor plate which does not required special tools, can be operated by the fingers even when covered with gloves and numb with cold, and does not mutilate the bullets either by their hitting the ground or by usingv them as tools to unlatch, the floor plate latching mechanism. v V

Referring to the drawings in detail, Figure 1 shows the breech andreceiver portion, generally designated It, ofa bolt action firearm i i, a military rifle being shown for purposes of illustration,

although the invention is not limited to use with such rifles. with a grip l3 :anda foregrip M respectively behind and in front of the magazine, generally designated 15. The firearm H is equipped with the usual barrel it having a chamber [-6 accommodating the forward end of a bolt It. The bolt I8 is conventional and inoludesthe usual handle is equipped with a knob (not shown). at the end thereof, the handle being broken away to conserve space. The bolt 1 8 also has the usual safety device20 whereby it may be prevented from be" The rifle it has the usual stock l2 ing fired by accidental operation of the trigger 2! which extends upward through a passageway 22 into a recess 23 immediately forward of the grip !3, where it engages the portion 24 of the bolt l8. The latter is rotatable and also reciprocable by the use of the handle 19 so as to be moved into and out of the chamber 11 and also relatively to the breech portion 25, the bolt l I being reciprocated through approximately a quarter turn-before being moved rearwardly by means of the handle l9.

Between the portions I6 and 25 is located the usual opening 26 through whichthe cartridges C are inserted or removed from the firearm.- l l .in

the ordinary manner. The cartridges C are pushed downward into the magazine opening or cavity 2'! in a magazine casing-:28; having side walls 29 (Figure 8) and forward and rearward walls 36 and 3| respectively. The forward wall 36 terminates in a flange or lip 33 by which the casing 28 is securedlto the foregrip l4.w Between the portions 30 and 33 is located a recess34 which serves to receive a correspondinglyishaped fori bore 42 in a finger block or handle 43 which issecured as by the screws 44, .to.the lower surface 45 of the magazine floor plate,36,, The .bore 4| receives a reciprocable ,pin or plunger 46 havingan enlarged head 4'1 whichfits thelcounterbore 42. On its outer endthe pin 45 has a reduced diameter portion 48 carrying a thumb or finger disc or button 49,. The button 49 fits intoa notch 55 formed in the rearward end of theblock 43.

The forward lug or projection is mounted on the forward endof an open-centeredframe or plate5l (Figure 5) having anelongated opening 52 in the center thereof. The frame 5| is provided with a pair of inwardly extending lugs .53 which serve as retainers'for the lower portion54 of an accordion spring or follow-up spring 55 of zigzag shape, theupper 'portionof whichis secured as by the lugs 56' (Figures3 and-4). to a follow-up block 5?. The latter has an elongated concave recess 58 extending longitudinally along the upper surface 59 thereof for fitting the lower.- most cartridge seat. 1

Immediatelyforward ofthe trigger guard 55 the lower surface of the stock 12 is provided with an upwardly-extending cavity -6l into which the boss 31 loosely fits (Figures 1, 2 and 6);.withroom enough to enable the fioor plate 36 to he slid rearwardly far enough for the projections 35 and 38 to clear the recesses 34 and 33-respectively (Figure 6). Openingdownwardly into the cavity BI is a bore 62 formed in the magazine casing 28 and having its upper end communicating with a counterbore 63 closed bya plugorother closure 64. Located in the counterbore 63 is-a'helical compression spring 55,'the upper end of which abuts the closure 64 and the lower end an'enlargement or head 63 on a latch or locking pin 61 reciprocable in the bore '52. The spring .55 normally urges the pin 61 downward into the bore in the boss 31, therebynormallypreventing rearwardly out of their respectiv recesses 34 and 39.

In the operation of the invention, let it be assumed that the firearm l I has been loaded in the usual way, either by pressing individual cartridges C one by one downward through the opening 26 into th magazine opening 2'! or, as is more frequent in military rifles such as the so-called United States Government Springfield rifle model 1903, by inserting an entire clip of cartridges into the opening 26 and pushing them downward into the magazine opening 2'! with the bolt 18, of coursaretracted. When the cartridges are pushed downward in this manner, an elongated metal clip fitting the rearward ends of the cartridges is detached from the cartridges by the bending of a tabon; the clip,- The clip is then removed, leaving the cartridges in the magazine chamber 2'1.

To -remove the cartridges C and unload the magazine 15, the user grasps the forward edge 68 of the finger block 43 with his forefinger and pulls it rearwardly, at the same time pushing upward with his thumb upon the button 49. This in turn, causes the head 47 of the, pin tomove upward, pushing the lower portion of the pins! upward out of the bore 40 of the boss (ill-and overcoming the downward urge of the spring65. When the lower end of the pint? clearsthe upper end of the bore 40,'the rearward pressure ofthe fingers of the forward end 68 of the finger block 43 slides the magazine floor plate 36 rearwardly from the position of Figure 1 tothe position of Figure 6. This actionwithdraws the forward and rearward lugs 35 and 38. from their, respective recesses 34 and 39. (Figure 6) so that the floor plate 36 is pushed downwardinto the handof the user by the spring55, accompanied immediately afterward by the cartridges C. Thus, the cartridges C are received directly into the hand, of; the. user rather than being ejected to the ground, and no action of the bolt l8iis necessary to unload the magazine. When the cartridges C have been placed in the user s pocket,.cartridge belt:0r other receptacle, the user replaces the magazine plate by inserting the follow-up block 5l and spring in the lower end of the magazine chamber 27, reversing the foregoing procedure.

What I claim is:

1. A quick-operating magazine unloading device for bolt action firearms having a detachable floor plate removably interlocked with a-magazine opening by a reciprocable locking member mounted inside said firearm and releaseably engaging a portion of said floor plate, said device comprising a support-including'a handle secured to said floor plate and projecting therefrom, a movable unlocking member secured-to and projecting outwardly from said support and movable into engagement with said locking member, and a finger-piece on said unlocking member adapted to be shifted by the operator, said support having an opening therein communicating with said with said locking member, and a finger-piece on said unlocking member adapted to be shifted by the operator, said support comprising a body de pending from said floor plate and having an opening therein communicating with said locking member, said body including a handle portion projecting from said support, and said unlocking member being selectively movable through said opening into unlocking engagement with said locking member.

3. A quick-operating magazine unloading device for bolt action firearms having a detachable floor plate removably interlocked with a magazine opening by a reciprocable locking member mounted inside said firearm and releasably engaging a portion of said floor plate, said device comprising a support including a handle secured to and depending from said floor plate, said support having a bore therein communicating with said locking member, a movable unlocking member secured to and projecting outwardly from said support, said unlocking member being movably mounted in said bore adjacent said handle and movable into unlocking engagement with said locking member, and a finger-piece on said unlocking member adapted to be shifted by the operator.

4. A quick-operating magazine unloading device for bolt action firearms having a detachable floor plate removably interlocked with a magazine opening by a reciprocable locking member mounted inside said firearm and releasably engaging a portion of said floor plate, said device comprising a support including a handle secured to and depending from said floor plate, said support having a bore therein communicating with said locking member, a movable unlocking member secured to and projecting outwardly from said support, said unlocking member being reciprocably mounted in said bore adjacent said handle and reciprocable into unlocking engagement with said locking member, and a fingerpiece on said unlocking member adapted to be shifted by the operator.

5. A quick-operating magazine unloading device for bolt action firearms having a detachable floor plate removably interlocked with a magazine opening by a reciprocable locking member mounted inside said firearm and releasably engaging a portion of said floor plate, said device comprising a block-like support secured to and depending from said floor plate and including a handle portion, said support having a bore therein communicating with said locking member, a movable unlocking member secured to and projecting outwardly from said support, said unlocking member being reciprocably mounted in said bore adjacent said handle portion and reciprocable into unlocking engagement with said locking member, and a fingerpiece on said unlocking member adapted to be shifted by the operator.

JOSEPH FRANK SALAS.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,168,026 Nelson Jan. 11, 1916' 1,172,069 Stamm Feb. 15, 1916 1,900,818 Jager Mar. 7, 1933 2,205,967 Wise June 25, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 15,390 Great Britain 1893 4,433 Great Britain 1901 1 eat Br ta n g 1909 

